Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Dems seeking Richardson’s endorsement

The leading Democratic presidential hopefuls are actively seeking the backing of New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

In an entry to the Washington Post’s politics blog, Richardson admits that he’s torn between endorsing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. On the one hand, Richardson served many years in the Clinton White House and said that Hillary Clinton “always seems very genuine.” On the other hand, he admits to being influence by Senator Ted Kennedy’s support of Obama as well as a personal anecdote from one of the Democratic debates:

"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, 'So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?' But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, 'Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening.' But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, 'Katrina. Katrina.' The question was on Katrina! So I said, 'On Katrina, my policy . . .' Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, 'Obama, that was good of you to do that.'"

Richardson dropped out of the presidential race earlier this month after lackluster performances in the primaries and dwindling funds. Despite being half-Mexican, Richardson downplayed his Latino background and tried not to make that a major issue during his presidential run.

Image- MSNBC

Sources- Washington Post, TIME, The Latin Americanist, ABC News, Wikipedia

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